Beneath a New Light
by TwilightHeir
Summary: A FE6 oneshot depicting the events of Binding Blade from the point of view of the mysterious Dark Priestess, Idunn. Spoilers ahead for those who have not played Binding Blade. Reuploaded to fix some errors


Author's Notes:

This story is a oneshot that takes place post-Binding Blade's story with the main focus being on the game's final boss and secondary antagonist, Idunn, following her recovery in Arcadia after Roy saves her life so there will be some spoilers so tread lightly if you don't know the story of Binding Blade or haven't played it either. I decided to make this as Idunn has always been my favorite antagonist in the series and I've always wanted to write something with her involved. So without further ado, let's go.

* * *

For as long as she could remember, her only dream was all that she saw as she slept: an empty, vast, white void that was devoid of any senses. She could recall the very moments upon awakening from that seemingly endless dream. A male human stood in front of her with a stern and dignified expression; he was adorned in dark purple armor that was gilded with royal gold. She did not know this man but something told awoke with in her that made her feel bound to him. She fully opened her oddly-colored eyes, the right being a bright violet and the left being a deep green, that shined in the darkness as she asked with not even a hint of emotion to her voice.

"You.. have called me from my slumber. Why?" She asked the man before her. "Am I to be given a new purpose?"  
Most of the man's speech eluded her as she was still waking up from her deep slumber however his last words, "I wish to return this world to the dragons and you are to lead them," resonated within her to which she felt compelled to follow.

She followed the man's command and left the shrine behind him, cloaking herself in her deep purple robes which also hid her face from most. Ahead of her, she noticed three more ahead of the man: one was a male, dressed in red garments that didn't care much for her presence, who's body language and mannerisms seemed to carry a lot of supposed importance to him, another male who was as silent as she was and followed for what seemed to be the same reason though she didn't know what the feeling was herself, and lastly a beautiful woman who always seemed to be fixated on her new leader. As she exited the shrine, she was blinded by the light outside but once she was adjust, she looked up at the vast, blue sky. She felt something in her once more as her new purpose awoke within her, she felt... warmth but did not know why. Perhaps she would find out as she fulfilled this purpose, she thought to herself.

The next memory she could recall, she was on the sidelines of an intense battle against an enemy general by the side of her leader, who she learned was the King of Bern, who watched on as his followers fought against the general, a gruff man with blue hair and a thick beard wearing heavy armor whilst wielding an axe. The man's armor was cracked and broken. He slumped over, remaining on one knee as he supported himself with his axe, bleeding. She gazed at the man as he spoke his last words out to her leader and saw the sorrow in his eyes as if there was something burdening him in his final moments as the pompous man, now on his wyvern, drained his life once more with his Runesword. She looked on at the dying man for a while until she was ordered to leave. Something about his death made her feel something once more; a feeling that made her feel cold and longing as if he didn't deserve this fate. As she left with her leader, she felt the wind blowing as her leader was being told an army was approaching; she was feeling that warmth again and wanted to pursue it but purpose would not allow it. It went white again.

Days had passed since then and as her powers were awakening, she had begun to create the very thing she was feared for during the Scouring, the ability to create "War Dragons." She looked on at the one she created who seemed to harbor more of a will then the others, she could see the murderous intent in his pure red eyes. The sight made a feeling surface from her once more, she was shaken by the sight but yet again, was not sure why. This one was given the name of Ain and from what she heard, was dispatched to a set of islands that Bern was aiding an uprising in. It went white again.

A few more days had passed and she was being taken to a large battle past the harsh deserts of the Nabata region. Once she and her leader had arrived at the Missur Peninsula, he commanded her to stay back as he approached who seemed to be the leader of the forces they were taking down. A green-haired woman wearing a purple cape and lightweight, white armor atop a white steed. The woman was fending off many of their side's wyvern riders with her wind magic to great success but once she saw who was approaching her, she seemed to freeze on the spot. The cloaked woman watched as this unfolded.

Her leader looked at her as he exclaimed, "So you are Cecilia, the Mage General of Etruria." He then tightened the grip on his scepter.  
The Mage General, Cecilia, was rattled and could only shout in surprise, "K-King Zephiel of Bern..!" She could barely find her composure as she prepared her magic.  
The King of Bern did not even seem to acknowledge her surprise, following up his earlier statement. "You've done well to hold the line against our forces, for your prowess in battle you will have the honor of facing me!" He raised his trident into the air as he, without effort, dodged the blades of wind she sent forth. Lightning struck the trident as it transformed into a humongous blade and with a single blow the Mage General was knocked off of her steed, heavily wounded and immediately lost consciousness.

The woman watched as her master, Zephiel, and the pompous general, who she learned was called Narcian, discussed what the plans with the woman are. Zephiel cared little for what would happen to her and told Narcian he was free to do as he wished to her, to which Narcian ordered a soldier to throw her into a cell so he could have "revenge" against her. The woman wondered what "revenge" was but judging by the man's demeanor she pinpointed that it was not a pleasant thing at all. She wondered why this woman was being treated so cruelly as she looked on emotionless. The same feeling that she could slightly feel when that general from months ago died before her master's army. As Zephiel was talking to a young woman who seemed to have similarities to him, his half-sister Guinivere, the cloaked woman's attention was diverted to the other side of the peninsula across the large bridges where Cecilia's reinforcements were arriving from. She was feeling that warm wind again and caught a glimpse of a young boy with red hair in blue armor and a blue cape. She kept her gaze towards him until her master ordered her to follow him back to Bern. She kept her gaze for a while until the boy was out of her sight. She wanted to follow that warmth but lacked the will. Something inside her made her feel... unsure towards her master. It went white again.

Months had passed since that moment, she was being taken away from the Bern's castle by Brunnya, the same woman who she had seen gazing at her master upon her awakening, who appeared to be saddened. The woman did not question it as it was not in her mission to do so. She was to follow the task given to her by Zephiel.

"Even if I am to fall in battle, you must continue your mission to save this world." His words continued to echo in her mind.

Brunnya continued to lead the woman on to what was known as the Dragon Temple. Something about this place felt familiar to the woman. Brunnya approached a red-haired man with tan skin who seemed to be waiting for their arrival. The man was draped in loose, red robes and markings of a mysterious nature covered what was visible of his chest and hands. He smirked as he looked at Brunnya.

He spoke out, "So you brought Idunn, the Demon Dragon, after all?", he looked to the woman who was staring vacantly at her. "Her soul still looks as broken as ever. I still can not understand that man's intentions but if Elibe is to be returned to the dragons, I am still interested by this turn of events."  
Brunnya remarked, "I'll leave her to you Jahn." She left shortly after saying that.

Jahn led her through the temple, but despite the harsh air and dark atmosphere, he seemed to be fine but it seemed to be slowing her down. She felt... cold. She was not listening to anything Jahn was saying as she thought to the name Idunn. Was that her name? They crossed many narrow bridges where one could fall into an endless abyss if they were not careful. She was eventually led into a back chamber as Jahn took his place amongst a throne. There she began created as many War Dragons as she could, preparing for a siege against all of Elibe to be burned and risen anew from the ashes for the dragons to live in as her master, Zephiel, had told her was his will. She carried this without a thought but her movements were slow and she began to wonder why her body seemed to not perform as she needed it to. She stopped for a moment as if feeling something intense, a desire. This desire was soon being overtaken by the empty whiteness once more until... from the throne room where Jahn had stationed herself, she heard an intense clashing and the sounds of flames being poured out. Someone was fighting against Jahn and she could even hear them talking to each other, exchanging their ideals to each other and then a loud thud to which she presumed Jahn had been killed. Her movements continued to be slow as she prepared for this unknown party to approach her, as they did, she recognized the one who was leading the charge. The same red-haired boy she felt the warmth from months ago and at his side was a young girl with messy pink hair, a strange mark on her forehead and divine wings. She was feeling the warmth once more and the boy approached her.

The boy asked her calmly, "You're the Dark Priestess. No, the Demon Dragon... Idunn."  
Finally as if having a small resemblance of a will of her own she asked the boy, "What exactly is your goal here? Why do you hinder my path?" She looked him in the eyes.  
He was taken aback by her sudden questions towards him and could only mutter one in response, "What?"  
She continued, "His Highness has ordered me to lead this world, to make it a better and peaceful place. Why are you in my way?" She did not take her eyes off of him whatsoever.  
The boy took a deep breath as he responded, "You are mistaken.. you were only told that his will would make the world a better place but what he hasn't told you is that it would be devoid of emotion and reason. The person who lead you is already dead, you have no more reason to follow him. So please, stop... you no longer have any reason to fight, he was only using you! You... no, we.. We have no reason to fight each other."  
This boy reminded Idunn of a memory that laid dormant in her mind before her long slumber and she spoke up again, "A long time ago... I have a feeling I heard those words from someone like you. Soft, gentle words.. like a warm breeze. But that was long, long ago and I have been asleep for age after age. I dreamed in this endless slumber an empty dream, white and colorless. But now I am awake, his Highness desired it so. I am awoken and I am no longer who I used to be. I understood his words and what I must do no matter how many suns set." She continued to look at the boy as she threw off the robe that concealed her identity, revealing her pointed ears, long yet neat silver hair and a deep purple dragonstone which had a dark aura as she raised it, causing the wind in the chamber to blow fiercely as she transformed into her dragon form.  
The boy drew his blade, returning to the side of his friends, as it was surrounded with fierce flames. "Everyone, stand back! I-I must do this myself, handle the War Dragons!" He exclaimed to them.  
The young girl took her dragon form which was much smaller than Idunn's and covered with wings rather than scales, expressing deep sorrow as she seemed to be crying. "Must we really fight?"

Idunn summoned many war dragons to her side as the group approached her with the boy with the Binding Blade leading the charge. The clash lasted for what felt like hours, many times they would be consumed in her dark flames, crushed under her claws, impaled with her tail and many times would their weapons sear her flesh with their dragon-rending light. She could feel her body getting weak as the boy approached her one last time, the flames igniting around his blade once more. She closed her eyes as the sword was driven into her flesh and fell into slumber once more... it went white again. However, the white dream began to fade as in the dream, a hand reached out to her belonging to the boy who smiled as he looked at her. She was confused but slowly reached her hand out to his and awoke from the dream in the city of Arcadia, hidden within the Nabata Desert. Her will was finally her own but she did not seem to know what to do with herself. She could hear the boy speaking with what seemed to be an elder in the city, from what the voice gave the impression of, as the young pink-haired girl from before began to lead her outside. She learned the girl's name was Fae to which Fae began showing her a number of things that would seem non-important to anyone else but to her, they were unknown to her.

The girl giggled as she approached a tree, "And this is a tree, Idunn! If you shake it sometimes delicious fruit will fall do- Oof!" A fruit had fallen out of the tree and on to Fae's head. "Ow.." Although she looked past that as she noticed Idunn was smiling at the sight, laughing even. "Idunn laughed! Fae's going to tell Roy that Idunn laughed!" She ran a circle around Idunn before leaving.  
"..Roy. So that's the boy's name." She began to slowly follow Fae before stopping as she felt the wind blow. "...A warm, gentle wind." She took a quick look at the sky and followed Fae to which she met Roy once more and approached him as she smiled. "Hello... Roy."

She had nothing but gratitude for this boy as he had given her the will to live beneath a new light.


End file.
